General Mills Payout Gets 15% Tastier

Also, the power of dividends is reflected in S&P 500 total returns. And ambitious goals at General Electric. Also: JPMorgan payout plans.

On Feb. 19, as noted in this space, General Mills said it planned to return "greater levels of cash to shareholders" via dividends and stock buybacks in its fiscal 2014 year, which starts June 1. The giant packaged-food maker (ticker: GIS) got the ball rolling Tuesday with a 15% payout hike, to 38 cents a share from 33 cents, effective with its Aug. 1 distribution.

This is General Mills' 14th dividend enrichment since 2004, and it's worth an additional $129.3 million annually to investors. Since 2008, the...